♪ My 40th ♪

Thursday, May 13th I turned 40 years old.

Ouch.

Growing up I thought 40 was OLD. Now I am the one turning 40. Ouch. ...

Anyway ... I decided to treat myself like a princess on that day and I had my tiara and all here at work.

They looked at me funny.

Some said I was 'special' ... haters. LOL

I really had a great day at work and then I went home.

And at home I expected my sis and my dad to show up with a Pepperidge Farm cake to sing me happy birthday.

It didn't happen.

No one called.

No one came over.

Once G got home, it was just the two of us.

That was it.

And I felt alone.

Very alone.

It was the first time that I spent my birthday like that. Ever. And I thought to myself that, well, I need to get used to this. Is just the way it is.

But something told me that something else was going on. I suspected a surprise party was planned for me.

I asked my sis ... she made it sound like nothing was going on. I confided in a few friends, no one knew nothing.

Rightttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt.

Saturday afternoon my dad took me to Olive Garden - he did say he told a few friends and I recognized my sister's car and a friend's car but that was it.

It was the same restaurant that they did a surprise party for me when I turned 30. Even in the same area of the restaurant when they did that previous one! And then out of the corner of my eye I see my sister and when I go in ... yes, it was a surprise!

One of my best friends from high school was there - he came all the way from Miami! My best friend from work - who happens to be my boss - was there too! A few others that live here and have been part of my life and then later my best friend since childhood came in and then 2 other friends from high school that live in FL but not in Orlando - at least an hour and a half drive - I was so touched! So happy! And my dad standing in the back just smiling.

My sis decorated it all with balloons and 'over the hill' and '40' theme ... dang, I felt like I was 15 with all the attention! The food was delish and wow, 3 hours went by in a blink ... so we continued the party at my house! They didn't leave 'til almost 11pm - to then drive home.

To say the least, I had a great time!

I really, truly did ... I am thankful for each and every person that was there and that remembered me on my birthday.

My dad and my sis took care of everything.

And in the party, they basically just stood aside and let me enjoy my time with my friends.

If that is not love, I don't know what is.

So even though I was bummed out on the 13th, the surprise party more than made up for it.

Forties ... get ready, here I come! ♪♪♪

happy b'day mom

today marks 58 years that my mom was born - she passed away 4.5 months ago ... still seems so ... surreal ...

if she was here this is what we would have done ... call her in the morning to sing her happy b'day then harrass her on the phone all day - lol - then meet at her house after work and between my sis, my dad and I she would have flowers, balloons and her favorite Pepperidge Farm cake

instead my dad and I sang her happy birthday by ourselves and then decided that she was up in Heaven playing with all the pets we had since I was born almost 40 yrs ago - not counting all the family and friends that have left us before .... that made us feel a bit better .... but the lack of her presence still hurts...

how do you celebrate a loved one's b'day once they are gone?

my sister's birthday

Today is my sister's birthday ... I took the day off to spend it with her, to do whatever she wanted to do, however the main thing we planned to do was head out to the beach (Cocoa Beach), take some flowers and a balloon so we could do our own private goodbye to our mom ... as I type this my dad is in PR and tomorrow afternoon he will spread mom's ashes at Buye Beach in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico... so we wanted to do our own thing since we are not in PR and cannot be with our dad at that time.

We got pink carnations and a balloon that read "Welcome Home" ... drove around until we found free parking pretty close to the beach. By the time we parked it was close to noon and in one word it was HAWT! lol We walked around until we found a spot that was pretty much isolated from the people that were there. We stared at the waves coming and going and before I knew it, I heard my sister talk to my mom ... and the tears started... we cried as we both said our goodbyes and prayers... then we let the balloon go and just held each other as we cried... she was really close to her and I know this is pretty hard on her. She then gave me some carnations and I walked further in the water, couldn't stop myself from crying and all of a sudden, bam! a wave threw me backwards and my sis and I just started laughing! We both said that was mom telling us "ha! I gotcha!" As hard as we cried before we just laughed then ... it just felt right to be there with my sister and doing what we did ... she will never be forgotten...

The rest of the day was spent between going to Ron Jon's, picking up my son and going to Denny's for some grub... sis said it was a great day for her... mission accomplished!